Martin Kenny
Question:64. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Transport to provide an update on his Department’s work in relation to road safety and to tackle the continuing rise in road fatalities. [13496/24]
Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions
Road Safety
I raise the issue of the serious number of road deaths that are happening all the time, in addition to the serious number of collisions that are happening, especially at weekends, involving so many young people and tragic deaths. There was a 20% increase in road fatalities in 2023 and, for the first couple of months of this year, we have seen an increase even on that. While I understand some work is being done in respect of this issue, it is about enforcement of the legislation we have. That requires more adequate policing resources to be put in place to catch more people who are speeding on our roads and driving dangerously.
Published in December 2021, the Government’s road safety strategy 2021–2030 has the target of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 50% this decade and achieving Vision Zero by 2050. Vision Zero has been adopted across the EU and aims to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads. The second annual review of the road safety strategy took place on 18 January, where road safety partners and agencies reviewed progress in the context of reversing the alarming trend of an increase in road fatalities. In addition to closing out phase 1 of the strategy this year, I prioritised certain actions for the coming year. This includes the development of a national strategy for camera-based enforcement, addressing the multiple learner permit issue, and enhancing road safety education.
Work has also commenced on implementing the recommendations of the speed limit review, published last September. The safer default speed limits called for by the review will be legislated for in the Road Traffic Bill 2024, which we intend to see enacted into law shortly after Easter. Updated guidelines for local authorities will be published shortly thereafter and, with these pieces in place, local authorities can then commence their own speed limit reviews. In addition to legislating for safer default speed limits, the Road Traffic Bill will also seek to introduce mandatory drug testing at the scene of serious traffic collisions and reform the penalty points system so motorists receive multiple sets of penalty points where multiple offences are committed. Furthermore, in response to the rising trend in fatalities last year, last October, my Department conveyed sanction for the Road Safety Authority, RSA, to spend additional funds on increased public awareness campaigns in the final months of last year and early months of this year.
Road safety is a foremost priority for me and the Department. Everyone is entitled to use our roads and, importantly, to be safe on our roads. We will continue to make sure every measure is taken to try to reduce the level of deaths and serious injuries.
I thank the Minister. The key factors that made a difference in the past in reducing road deaths were around education and enforcement. Yet, these are the two areas where we do not seem to be getting action from the Government. One of the things I noticed over the weekend, which I heard about on the news this morning, was that the Garda introduced an enforcement campaign over St. Patrick's weekend, which referenced the number of people found speeding. One person was travelling at 142 km/h in a 60 km/h zone while another was going at more than 200 km/h in a 100 km/h zone.
It comes back to a point I have made several times. The issue is not that the speed limits we have right now are not low enough; it is that they are not being adhered to. That is the big problem. Enforcement is not in place. While I welcome the Minister talking about cameras and other facilities being put in place, this is an urgent situation. It needs to be dealt with quickly. It needs some sense of urgency around it because far too many families throughout the length and breadth of the country are suffering the tragedy of loved ones being killed or seriously injured on the roads. It is down to reckless driving. We see it all the time. Anyone who uses the roads sees it. The problem is that many of these people are not being called to book when they drive in a reckless way that endangers themselves and other road users.
I agree with the Deputy. It is about engineering, enforcement and education, but we need to lower the speed limits. Many speed limits give the wrong message to motorists and are too high for the real condition of the roads. It is important we bring down the speed limits. In most urban areas the speed limit should be brought down to 30 km/h from 50 km/h, in many of the non-secondary national roads from 100 km/h to 80 km/h and, on the quieter roads, down to 60 km/h. That is important.
As the Deputy said, however, that needs to be matched by greater enforcement of those speed limits. An Garda Síochána obviously has a key role in that regard. I will give a couple examples of where we are increasing enforcement. Last September, the Minister for Justice announced a 20% increase in GoSafe camera hours for the latter months of last year, from approximately 7,500 hours up to 9,000 hours of speed limit monitoring. Similarly, we are introducing new average speeds. At approximately three sites, we are testing a new average speed camera system that will measure average speeds over a distance, and there will be nine new static cameras. We also need more enforcement.
I am glad the Minister acknowledged that but the problem is the resources are not being put in place for An Garda Síochána. We do not see enforcement happening on the roads. I saw a GoSafe van on the N4 this morning, which is a road with a 100 km/h speed limit. That road was absolutely open with practically no traffic on it but that was where the van was sitting. That is the problem people have. On the dangerous parts of the road, the vans are not seen. We do not see any enforcement in the areas where we really need to see it.
The other issue I raised, in regard to which I tabled an amendment to the Road Traffic Bill, is that of locations with high incidences of collisions, and dangerous stretches of road, dangerous junctions and a dangerous series of bends. Not enough money is being put in place for local authorities to deal with that. It is not just about having enforcement of safety measures to make people drive properly on the roads but also ensuring that people have proper roads to drive on. Serious incidents are happening. We have had them in counties Limerick and Carlow and various places. All the time, when these incidents happen, we hear reports of multiple collisions on that stretch of road over the previous decade and several people being killed on it. Why are we not making sure that those roads are made safer for people to drive on? That requires investment from the Government to ensure that those incidents are dealt with.
I agree with the Deputy. That is why in last year's budget we allocated additional funding of €12 million to Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, to specifically look at areas, particularly on the national road network, where there might be sections of carriageway that are not optimal or not up to standard, and to try to address the real black spots. That is just part of it and is in addition to an existing significant budget. We will continue to put safety first. The direction to TII, and in our local roads programme, is to address black spots first as part of overall road safety measures.
The Deputy is right with regard to An Garda Síochána resources. That is a real priority. We want to see greater enforcement and greater presence on the street. The GoSafe cameras are mobile and can be deployed. It is up to the Garda to decide how it best deploys its resources. I agree with the Deputy in that we are trying to maximise that because we have a real issue. There is now a real and urgent need to reduce the number of accidents. The Government will make sure those resources are deployed to help that happen.
Driver Test
Michael Lowry
Question:65. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on the current waiting times for driving tests in all County Tipperary test centres; the number waiting in each test centre; the reason for the extended delays in each test centre; the steps he is taking to address these driving test delays; these matters require immediate attention and swift action to alleviate the distress and inconvenience caused to persons in County Tipperary who are waiting for a profound period of time to have their driving test completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13476/24]
What are the current waiting times for driving tests in County Tipperary in all its test centres? What is the number for those waiting in each test centre? What is the reason for the extended delays in each test centre? What steps is the Minister taking to address driving test delays? These matters require immediate attention and swift action to alleviate the distress and inconvenience caused to numerous people throughout Tipperary who are waiting for a long period to complete their driving tests.
I thank the Deputy. There are four test centres in County Tipperary. Throughout the county at the end of February, 600 tests were scheduled and a further 1,605 applicants were waiting to receive an invitation to book their test.
As of the most recent figures for the end of February, the average wait time to be invited to sit test was 27 weeks in Clonmel, 19 in Nenagh, ten in Thurles and seven in Tipperary town.
As the Deputy will be aware, in many locations across the country, including Tipperary, the average wait time to take a driver test is far too long. The driver testing service has been under significant pressure to meet unprecedented demand and, following a request for additional resources from the RSA, last March my Department gave approval for the recruitment of up to 75 additional driver testers. This brings the current total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to 205, which is more than double the 100 sanctioned testing posts in June 2022.
At the end of 2023, there was a net increase of 41 driver testers across the service as a result of this sanction, with additional testing capacity deployed to the geographical areas with the longest waiting times and highest demand for tests. Clonmel has received an additional two driver testers as part of this recruitment, though it is important to note that testers can and do carry out tests outside of their base location in response to demand.
At the end of February, the national average wait time for a candidate to be invited for a test was 16.9 weeks. This is still above the service level agreement, SLA, target of ten weeks and I am acutely aware of the difficulties excessive wait times are still causing for people across the country. Wait times have, however, been on a steady downward trend since the end of August, when they peaked at 30.4 weeks. This reduction corresponds with the deployment of the first tranche of new testers in September.
My Department is working closely with the RSA to monitor demand and capacity requirements of the driver testing service to ensure it meets the agreed service level of average wait times of ten weeks, which the RSA expects to achieve by the middle of the year.
I thank the Minister for that information. While there is an obvious and steady improvement, too many people are still waiting a prolonged period for a test, which is causing a great deal of stress, strain and inconvenience. The facts and the figures there regarding all of the centres in Tipperary are above the service level agreement. On the SLA, are there penalties and what kind of monitoring is done on this? When a threshold is not reached by the provider of the service agreement, what kind of sanctions are taken against it, are those followed up and computed or is it a case where we have a service provider with a long-term contract in place and that no action can be taken when it is not meeting its targets?
It is not satisfactory that two of the centres in Tipperary are outside of the service level agreement. To clarify, in both Thurles and Tipperary town, we are within that SLA target, which is ten weeks in the case of Thurles and seven weeks in the case of Tipperary town.
Obviously, if there is a long period where a service provider is not able to meet the standards, my Department, and it is primarily the RSA which has responsibility for this, will take action to ensure that we get within our limits.
The backlog, which is the real challenge and difficulty here, was caused like many things in our society by the disruption brought by Covid-19. We saw the wait time go up to approximately 30 weeks by the middle of last year as a consequence of not having sufficient testers and having a significant backlog. We are addressing it and bringing that right down. My understanding from the RSA is that by the middle of this year, we will have the national average down to ten weeks. If any particular centres are outside that, the RSA are directed and have the powers to act to bring it back into line.
It would be helpful to all of us as elected representatives where some months ago I engaged with the chief operations officer of the National Driver Licence Service, NDLS. Among a number of matters, I strongly criticised its issuing of generic letters to elected representatives. Part of the reason is this suspicion by public representatives of the information they are getting is because the NDLS is too slow to give us information and it is unwilling to openly engage and issue facts. Today, the Minister has given me the facts. I accept the facts and I accept that an improvement is being made and that it is being treated as a priority. These people, however, who are responding to elected representatives should be more open and transparent. It is in their own interest to help us to get the public to understand that improvements are being made or why there are delays.
I absolutely agree with the Deputy. The Government aspires to an open government data regime where we provide that information. It should not have to require letters in many instances; we should be looking to provide information on a readily accessible basis. This might reduce the amount of work which we as representatives or they as administrators have to do. I fully accept the Deputy's point. Our public administrative system needs to be quick in response to queries from public representatives and, in many ways, to pre-empt the need for that by providing accurate and timely information. I will look to see that this is applied in the writing of such letters or the answering of any queries.
Aviation Industry
Martin Kenny
Question:66. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Transport if he can provide an update on the national aviation strategy and its impact on Dublin Airport and regional airports. [13497/24]
I raise with the Minister the issue of the national aviation strategy and where we are going in respect of that. I had cause recently to visit both Dublin Airport and some regional airports. I am very much aware that the airports themselves are under pressure in some cases and, certainly, the regional airports are prepared to come up to the mark and to provide more services without huge investment in them. They would have an opportunity to do that if there was a strategy to make that happen. We also have the issues in Dublin Airport, which is the national airport for the country, and is also an international hub. I would like to know where we are going with this and what the Government intends to do with all of the problems arising in our aviation industry.
Aviation plays a crucial role in our economy and society. The National Aviation Policy, NAP, published in August 2015, established a policy framework for the development of the aviation sector. It was designed to create an environment that would encourage the sector to enhance Ireland's connectivity, foster the growth of aviation enterprise and maximise the contribution of aviation to Ireland's sustainable economic growth and development.
Many of the goals have been progressed in Dublin Airport and our regional State airports. A number of capital projects to facilitate and enable connectivity have been completed, including the north runway and Dublin air traffic control tower at Dublin Airport, and significant infrastructure investments at regional airports, including safety and security upgrades at Shannon and Cork airports, some of which were supported by Exchequer funding.
The national aviation policy also recognises the important role regional airports play in their areas and in regional development. These airports continue to be important because of a level of international connectivity that they bring to a region for tourism and businesses.
In line with the action points under the NAP on regional airports, regional airports are supported under a regional airports programme. The current programme from 2021 to 2025 continues to support Ireland’s smallest airports. In addition to targeting funding at safety and security projects and activities, the scope of the new programme has been expanded to encourage airports to reduce emissions and build climate resilience.
Since 2015, almost €53 million in capital supports have been provided to eligible airports. This level of capital investment has supported a range of essential safety and security projects required to maintain airports’ compliance with regulatory requirements in those areas. Projects with a sustainability focus have also been supported since 2021, assisting airports meet their carbon reduction targets.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
In addition, almost €55 million has been provided to support core airport operations in the areas of air traffic control, ATC, safety and security. In line with national policy, and subject to the availability of budgetary resources in each given year, up to 100% of eligible payroll and operational costs at eligible airports have been supported.
Public service obligation, PSO, air services between Donegal and Dublin are also supported under this programme providing vital connectivity to the people and businesses in the north west. Services facilitate same day return trips from Donegal, and further international connectivity from Dublin airport. As well as supporting Government’s commitment to balanced regional development, these services have supported growth of the economy and tourism in the region. This Exchequer funding has supported the strong growth is passenger traffic across these airports with passenger number in 2023 having grown considerably and exceeded 2015 passenger levels by 25%.
Ireland has established good connectivity via our regional airports with the UK, Europe and America.
Looking to the future a number of projects are in development to further strengthen our airports, such as Dublin Airport’s infrastructure development programme, Shannon Group’s redevelopment and refurbishment of its properties at the Shannon campus, and the continued funding of regional airports under the regional airports programme. While the principal goals of the NAP remain valid, and it continues to guide decision-making, my Department will undertake work in 2024 to update the NAP. This work will need to have due regard to the changed environment that the aviation sector finds itself in, not least of all the challenge to ensure sustainable development of Ireland’s international connectivity by decarbonising air travel. The process of updating the NAP will include a comprehensive public consultation as well as close engagement with aviation sector and other key stakeholders.
We recognise that there has been some investment in some of the airports but key issues are causing great difficulties. One of those is accessibility. We see, in particular, huge problems in Dublin there is not a proper public transport system in and out of airport, apart from a bus terminal. We have a similar situation in Shannon.
Will the Government consider putting rail services into these airports, including running a rail line from Shannon back into Ennis? Will the Government consider running a heavy rail line from Dublin Airport into the city centre, in addition to the metro, which absolutely needs to happen and to be put in place also? We have to recognise that while there is work to be done in respect of climate change emissions, one of the problems we have is that people have to bring their cars almost everywhere they go in this country because we do not have adequate public transport to get people to hubs. Our national airports are hubs that people need to use and will continue to use because we are on an island and we have to recognise that. The Minister is saying that investment is happening but the point is that it is not delivering the results that we need.
I agree with the Deputy that rail connectivity in particular will be a critical issue for the sustainable development of airports. A rail connection to Shannon Airport, as part of a wider investment in the Limerick-Shannon region, the reopening of the Shannon-Foynes line and the building of new stations in the likes of Moyross and elsewhere, would not just benefit the airport but also the industrial estate, which is very significant, beside it and the town of Shannon itself and the surrounding area. That is a very valid and important project that we will and should pursue. Similarly in Dublin Airport, the difficulties, as very publicly discussed, around the cap on numbers, are primarily related to an analysis by An Bord Pleanála that the transport links to the airport are the real constraint, which is why the cap was put in place in the first place. In that regard, it is critical we build the metro to provide a quality service, not just to the airport but to Swords, the surrounding areas and to institutions across this city. I do not believe that building a rail link to the airport at the same time is merited because that would run into constraints on the Connolly Station to Drogheda line-----
I thank the Minister. He will get a chance to come back in.
-----but we certainly need the metro.
We will agree to disagree on that. A rail link to Dublin Airport from the city centre is something we should put in place because it can happen with speed and haste, whereas we have waited 20 years for the metro and nothing has happened. Even if we started it tomorrow, it would be at least another ten years before we would see it in place. That is an issue we can come back to.
Another issue I raise with the Minister is the severance packages paid out to workers over the past number of years by Dublin Airport Authority, DAA. The figure is very high. A total of €56 million in redundancy and severance packages was paid out to staff. The average was €320,000 to €370,000 per person. While I absolutely accept people should be paid well and looked after properly with pensions and severance packages where necessary, some of this seems excessive. Will the Minister make a comment on what Government's position is on this? While DAA has a job to do, we are talking here about investment and these sort of very high payouts certainly fly in the face of what people would see the Government standing over.
First, regarding the metro, I have to be careful. I do not intervene directly in the planning system or try to change planning conditions, which some people were looking for me to do when it came to Dublin Airport. They were saying to ignore An Bord Pleanála and thrash its conditions. We cannot do that. As Minister for Transport, I can say a decision will be made on the metro. It is going through the planning process at the moment. I expect a decision will be reached this year and that this or the next Government will make the investment decision next year. It will not be a ten-year wait time for the delivery of the metro. We should aim to see it being delivered in the early years of the next decade.
With regard to the pay DAA, or indeed any of the semi-State or other commercial companies under public ownership, the Government commissioned Donal de Buitléir to do a major review of executive pay and there is a real requirement on us in the State not to provide excessive pay limits or to have huge gaps between different agencies. We do not get directly involved. It is a matter for the DAA board in terms of its pension arrangements but it fits within the overall ambit of Government pay, which makes sure we can get the right people but do not pay excessively.